Yarn processing device



Dec. 3, 1957 G. SEVERINI YARN PROCESSING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet l r 6. SeUGDLR a) nuull Filed March 20. 1953 hm 3 mm mm ON Fm Dec. 3, 1957 e.SEVERINI 2,814,939

YARN PROCESSING DEVICE Filed March 20, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 m I Z: w(0| m I w 4% W m '1 o 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORL er QKZ/Z/ G. SEVERINIYARN PROCESSING DEVICE .m m m. a a 1 I I Dec. 3, 1957 Filed March 20,1953 Dec. 3, 1957 G. SEVERINI 2,814,939

YARN PROCESSING DEVICE Filed March 20, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTQR.

G. 6'8 orzlzap ATTHS,

United States Patent 2,814,939 YARN PROCESSING DEVICE Golfredo Severini,Milan, Italy, assignor to Studi E Brevetti Applicazioni Tessili S. r.1,. Milan, Italy Application'Marchlll, 1953, Serial No. 34:5;734 Claimspriority, application 'Italy April 5, v1952 16 Claims. cl. 68-205)si'sting. of a plurality, of successive turns, the precise geometricalshape of which depends on the particular structure of' thethread-storing thread-advancing v device thatiis employedlThread-storing thread-advancing devices, to be satisfactory muststore asufiicient length of thread to allow all of the-desired treatments to beefiiciently efiected and at-the same time must have a limited bulk.Further, they'should render possible a perfect separation of the variousprocessingv liquorsappliedto the thread-which should not'contaminate oneanother in order thatthey may conveniently be re-cycled and recovered.

Further,.said devices must beeasily operated'andparticula'rlyeasilyfthreaded up, both at the start of their operationand Whenever the thread breaks.

Orie'class of'threadstoring and advancingdevice comprises a processingroller divided into several zones correspbiidin'g each to one wet ordry. treatment, and an advancingroller' askew to the processing roller,to cause the thread wound about both rollers continuouslyto advancealong a substantially helicahpath when the roll ers rotatei It'hasbeen-already proposed-to separatethe various wet processing zones bymeans of flanges or the like, collectingtl le'liquors that drip from theprocessing roller in a trough divided into cells corresponding each to awet processing one.

In such devices, however, thread guides must be provided to guide thethread overthe separation flanges and each guide determines an angle inthe trajectory of the thread, causing a friction-which may beparticular- 1y undesirable when the threadis still incompletelycoagulated.

The threading-up. of such devicesmay be effected by formingra ring orcake of thread about both rollers and by allowing. it to advance alongthe device. However, when the ring. contacts the first flange, it stopsthere and must be passed over the flange and engaged with the respectivethread guide,.either by means of complicated and impractical mechanismor by a manual operation which may be -effected only if'every point ofthe" device is easily accessible.

One object of this invention is to provide a threadstoring. threadadvancing v device of the class described wherein the processing liquorsare separated, even when used in large amounts; as'efi'ectively as bythe use of: flenges, and yet no angles are createdin the trajectory ofseparation belts aretangent to the supporting therthread and nomanualoperations or mechanisms are required for the threading-up.Another object is to provide a device wherein the lengths of the severalprocessing. zones and even their number can be easily. varied. Otherobjects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.According to the invention, the separation elements between the severalwet-processingzones consist of belts of a suitable flexible materialengaging the periphery of the processing roller along a sufii'cientlyextended arc, preferably an arc corresponding at least to that portionof said periphery which is wetted by the processing, liquors. Otherrotatable supportingmeans, such as an auxiliary roller or a plurality ofulleys, are provided to cooperate with the processing roller to supportthe belts in a particular position that will now be geometricallydefined. I

We shall call supporting surface the simplest surface on which thetrajectory of the thread, in the: storing. and advancing device,entirely lies: actually the. supporting surface comprises a portion ofthe periphery ofthe processing roller (that portionwhich. is contactedby the thread) a like portion of the periphery, of 'the advancingroller, and two portions of ruled surfaces the. generators whereof aretangent, on one and on the. other side respectively, to the two rollers.It is to. be. noted that the expression supporting surface and itsdefihition arepurely geometric in character and'the word supporting."does not imply any material support. Now, the surface at processingroller, while elsewhere they are at least in part and may be whollyexternal thereto; at any rate, they never intersect. such surface. Theratio between the portion wherein belts and supporting surfacecontacteach other and the portion wherein no such contact exists, mayvary according to. cases. The word external further does not imply anyconsiderable distance between the belts and the supporting; surface,while on the contrary even a very small distance and along a. smallportion of the beltsmay sufiice. It has been found-a fact that could notbe foreseen and. is suprising-that in these conditions the threadinsinuates itself between the belts and the processing roller andproceeds in its travel practically as if the belts: themselves did notexist, though said belts are wholly effective asseparation elementsbetween the several liquors.

In order to support the belts in the desired position the supportingmeans hereinbefore mentioned should be fartheraway from theprocessingroller thanthe advancing roller, and preferably in the samegeneral direction. They should rotate about axes parallel to that of theprocessing roller so that the belts, while takingpart in the rotation ofthe processing roller, may not advance along the device.

Theinvention will be better understood with reference to the appendeddrawings which illustrate some embodiments thereof, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective representation of a part. of a the periphery ofthe device according to a first embodiment of the: invention;

Fig. 2- represents the devi end;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view at a larger scale of a. detail of a secondembodiment;

Figs. 4 and 5 are similar to Figs. 1 and 2 respectively, but illustratea third embodiment;

Fig. 6 is a lateral view of a detail of a fourth embodiment;

Fig. 7 is a lateral view of a detail of a further embodi ment;

Fig.8 is a sectional view at a larger scale of a detail of anotherembodiment of the invention; and

Figs. 9, l0 and 11 are lateral views of details of a. further embodimentof the invention.

e of Fig 1 seen from one With reference now to Figs. 1 and 2, numeralrep resents a thread of any kind which, by way of example and as aparticular application of the invention, may be considered to be aviscose rayon thread composed of a bundle of filaments originating froma single spinning nozzle and which travels in the direction of thearrows.

As it is known, in the case of viscose rayon, it is necessary, in orderto obtain a finished product, to effect a series of wet treatments, forinstance in timed succession, setting, first washing, desulphurizing,second washing, bleaching, third washing and finishing, followed bydrying and possibly by conditioning, and other treatments may be addedto those listed above, or some of those may be omitted. The actualnumber of the wet processing steps has been left undetermined in thedrawings because the invention does not depend on such number and isapplicable to any succession of treatments and also to threads differentfrom viscose rayon and to different processing stages, and the firstthree processing zones and the beginning of the fourth zone only havebeen indicated since this is sufficient to a schematic illustration ofthe invention.

The thread storing and advancing device illustrated, comprises aprocessing roller 12 and an advancing roller 13 askew thereto. Thedevice also comprises an auxiliary roller 14 having its axis parallel tothe axis of processing roller 12.

The thread 10 winds up in a succession of turns in a substantiallyhelical configuration about rollers 12 and '13. To each wet processingstep there corresponds a processing zone on processing roller 12; zones15, 16 and 17 have been completely indicated. The separation between theseveral zones is achieved by means of separation belts such as 18, 19and 20, which embrace roller 12 and auxiliary roller 14. These belts aremade of a sufficiently elastic material, for instance rubber or asynthetic material (vinyl, polyethylene, polyamide resins, etc.). In theembodiment of Figs. 1 and 2, the belts have a rectangular cross section,but such section is not prescribed, indeed, often is not the mostsuitable, as will be explained later. Due to the relationship of rollers12 and 14, the belts theoretically do not have any tendency to progresslongitudinally of the device, while the thread on the contrary soadvances. However it is not generally possible, or at any rate it is notpractical, to achieve and maintain as time goes on an absolutelyparallel relationship of the roller axes, so that the belts may have ormay acquire with time a tendency, no matter how slight, to shift alongthe rollers. Therefore, guides may preferably be provided for preventingany longitudinal displacement of the belts, and said guides may simplyconsist in forks like forks 21, 22 and 23 which straddle belts 18, 19and 20 and hold them in a longitudinally fixed position.

The processing liquors may be fed to the processing roller 12 by anyconvenient means, for instance, through conveniently located pipes 24,25, 26 etc. The processing roller is slanted with respect to thehorizontal in such a way as to cause the liquors which form a filmthereon, to move in a direction opposite to the travel of the thread,thereby to create a counter-current effect: therefore the threadadvances from the lowermost end (in Fig. 1, the left end), to theuppermost end of roller 12. The liquors which drain from roller 12 arecollected, to be re-used later, in separate vessels convenientlyconsisting of a single trough 27 (three walls of which are shown asbroken off in the drawing) divided into separate cells, correspondingeach to one processing liquor, by

' means of partitions like partitions 28, 29 and 30. In

the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2, any mixture of different liquors isavoided by locating each partition immediately before (with respect tothe travel of the thread-- that is, in Fig. 1, to the left) of thecorresponding belt.

If the liquor feed organs like 24, 25 and 26 are suf-; ficientlydisplaced with respect to the belts so that the liquor coming from eachof them does not wet the belt which is located after (to the right ofFig. 1) said feed organ, any mixing of processing liquors is avoided. Tothat end, however, other means and combinations of parts, to be laterdescribed, may be adopted. Auxiliary roller 14 is located at a greaterdistance from processing roller 12 than advancing roller 13 and in thesame general direction so that the separation belts remain external tothe helical trajectory of the thread and the supporting surface thereofalready geometrically defined, wherever they do not engage theprocessing roller, and at any rate never intersect such surface;obviously the belts engage roller 12 along an are that is slightlynarrower than the contact arc of the thread with said roller. Underthese conditions the surprising fact is observed that the thread passesbetween the belts and the surface of roller 12 and travels undisturbedas if the belts-which, however, are effective in separating theprocessing liquors-did not exist as far as the thread is concerned.

This is schematically illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein a belt 31 havingparticular cross-section is shown. The thread 10 passes in a successionof turns between said belt and roller 12. Of course the dimensionalrelationships have been altered in Fig. 3 for purposes of illustration:in reality, no real gap exists between belt and roller, on the contrary,the belt is kept taut to prevent the liquors from infiltrating betweenit and the processing roller; The tension of the belt also exerts abeneficial squeezing action on thread 10. It has also been found-andthis is even more surprising-that not only do the separation beltspermit the advancement of the turns of thread, but that they also permitthe advancement of the relatively thick ring of thread that is formedwhen the device is threaded up. Said threading-up is effected by windinga certain number of turns of thread about rollers 12 and 13 to form aring or cake of thread which is then allowed to advance freely from theinitial to the final end of the device; it is during the travel of theserings that the yarn arranges itself in a succession or substantiallyhelical turns. It is seen therefore that in this way the threading-up ofthe device becomes very simple and it is not necessary that the variousportions thereof-with the exception of the near end, that is the endadjacent to the spinning nozzle-be accessible either for manipulation orthrough mechanical means.

The invention may also be carried into practice by guiding theseparation belts in a manner different from that indicated above, whilemaintaining the same geometric relationship between said belt and thethread path. One particularly simple means, differing from that of Figs.1 and 2, is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. Only the first two belts 33and 34 are shown therein, and said belts are guided each by processingroller 12 and by a small pulley 35 and 36 respectively. If said pulleyis grooved, the belt cannot become longitudinally displaced and allauxiliary guides of the type of forks 21 to 23 of Fig. 1 may be omitted.However the belts may be guided, no departure from the scope of theinvention would be involved in introducing other rollers or, pulleys orauxiliary guide means, thereby causing the belts to assume aconfiguration differing from that illustrated and more complex, even ifin such a manner the separation between the belts and the supportingsurface should increase or decrease even to a very considerable extent.

In any case, the invention makes it possible to achieve anothernoteworthy new result, that is to vary the length of the variousprocessing zones without substituting any parts of the device and even,in certain cases, while the device is in operation. This can be easilydone, for instance in the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 by slidablymounting forks 21, 22, 23 etc. on a single support, such as a rod 37,and by fixing said forks by means of set screws 55, 56, 57 etc. or othermeans that are too obvious to require illustration, in any desiredposition on said support; or in the embodiment of Figs. 4, 5 and 6 bymounting eaclipulley 35, 36 etciir'i such a way' that it maylongitudinallyslide over a sh'a ft 38" thatis the same fr'all pulleys oron a separate shaftfor each pulley, for instance'by guiding the'p'ulleysbymeans of keys 58, 59, etc., which engage corres nondi'ngkey ways inthe pulleys, thenlocking the pulleysin the desired position'by means ofset screws 61, 62, 63etc. or the like: Convenient mechanical means maybe" used to displace the forks or pulleys even while the device is inoperation, if this is "required.

Aproper choice of thecross-section of the separation belts may be veryimportant to the: end ofperfectly separating the processing-liquors.Fig. 3 shows one particularly efiicient cross-section; the belt 31 isprovided therein with two projections 40-40 having the character offlanges which define a central groove 41. The partition 42 of a trough43similar to 'trough' 27 of Fig. 1, or at any rate the wall of acollecting vessel for" the processing liquor which corresponds to theparticular separationbelt under consideration, faces groove 41. Undersuch conditions the liquor coming from the right in Fig. 3 will bestopped by projection 40 and will drain from roller 12 into the vesselor cell to the right of partition 42. It will not be necessary to makesure that the liquor coining. from the left in the drawingshould notreach to the separating belt (as it was advisable m de in the case ofrectangular rings as in Fig. 1); on thecontrary, one may convenientlyallow said liquor to wet the entire processing zone belonging thereto,inasmuch as projection 40 will take care of stopping said liquor comingfrom the left of belt 31 and cause it to drain from roller 12 into thevessel or cell to the left of partition 42. Obviously the particularcross-section indicated in Fig. 3 is not essential, and groovedseparation belts may be made with different shapes, or two simple beltsmay be placed close to each other so as to leave a gap therebetweenwherein partition 42 or the like will extend or which said partitionwill face, or more grooves or gaps may be defined, or any shape orcombination of parts according to the same principle may be adopted.

Fig. 6 shows an embodiment wherein the belts have the shape of Fig. 3and are mounted on grooved pulleys as in Figs. 4 and 5.

Fig. 7 shows a sectional lateral view of an embodiment of the devicewherein separation belts 45 (three of which are shown) are provided eachwith two projections 46-47 and are laterally guided by forks 48, similarto the forks 212223 of Fig. 1, each mounted on a sleeve 49 laterallyslidable on a guide shaft 50 and provided with a set screw 51. Theliquor collecting vessel generally indicated at 52, is divided intocells by partitions 53, and each partition 53 faces a recess 54 betweenthe two projections 46-47 of a separation belt 45.

Fig. 8 shows by way of example another cross-section that may be adoptedfor the separation belts, therein identified by numerals 80, 81.

Fig. 9 shows a similar embodiment, wherein, however, the belts 45 (onlyone of which is shown) instead of being passed about the processingroller 12 and an auxiliary roller 14 as in Fig. 7, are passed about theprocessing roller 12 and grooved pulleys, such as pulley 60, whollyanalogous to pulleys 35-36 of Fig. 4, but provided, in stead of with setscrews, with an additional groove 66 which is engaged by the end of alever 67 having a slot 68 which engages a pivot 69 fixed to the frame ofthe machine. The lever 67 is provided with a handle 70 for actuating it,and in swinging about pivot 69, it actuates the pulley 6t)longitudinally of a shaft 71 on which it is slidably supported. In thismanner the belt 45 can be adjusted longitudinally of the device asdesired.

The liquor collecting vessel is wholly analogous to the vessel of Fig.11.

Fig. shows a further embodiment of the device in which the separationbelts are provided in pairs, each pair separating two adjacentprocessing zones-of theproeessing roller." ln the drawing-only oneofsuch pairof belts, 72 73, is'illustrated. The-two belts are supported'byprocessing roller 12 and by an auxiliary roller- 14, and they are soarrangedthat a partition 74' of-theliquor collectingvessel 75'directlyfaces and Lprojectsinto the gap between the two belts 72 -73. Eachbelt'is longitudi'n'allyg'uidedby a fork 7677l Eachp'aifof said forks ismounted ona sleeve 7 8' slidable'on a guide'shaft 79. Sleeve 78 isconnected by a link 80sui't ably supported as schematicallyindicated at8'1, toa'cou'ple of screws 81-82 actuated hand through 'the' handle 83.By turning handle83 sleet/e78, and therefore the "two forks mounted onit, are slid longitudinally of" the processing roller to adjusttheiraxial position. I

Fig. 11 shows a still further embodiment of the device. The processingzones are separated from one another'by pairs of belts 92-993 whollyanalogous to the pair of belts 72-73'of Fig. 10. Said pairs of belts,however,

are'supported by processing. roller12 and each by a double groovedpulley. 94provided with set screws 95' to fix its positionlongitudinally of a supporting shaft 96. Liquor collectingvessel 97,like vessel 75 of Fig. 10, has its partitions 98 -99 facing andprojecting eachintothe gap between two adjacent belts '92 -93.

Whatl claim-is: I I

1: Device for the continuous wet processing of-textile filaments, yarnsand threads, comprising, in combination with a rotatable processingroller having a plurality of processing zones corresponding to theseveral thread processing steps and a rotatable advancing roller askewto said processing roller for advancing the thread in a substantiallyhelical trajectory, a plurality of separation belts engaging theperiphery of said processing roller each at the borderline of twoadjacent processing zones, and rotatable belt supporting meansperipherally engaged by said belts and cooperating with said processingroller rotatably to support said belts, said supporting means beingpositioned farther away from said processing roller than said advancingroller whereby said belts at no point intersect the thread supportingsurface.

2 Device according to claim 1, wherein the belt supporting means arepositioned with respect to the processing roller in the same generaldirection as the advancing roller.

3. Device according to claim 1, wherein the arc along which theseparation belts engage the processing roller is large enough for saidbelts effectively to separate the processing liquors applied to thethread in adjacent processing zones.

4. Device according to claim 1, wherein the separation belts are mountedunder tension to facilitate the effective separation of the processingliquors applied to the thread in adjacent processing zones.

5. Device according to claim 1 wherein the axis about which the beltsupporting means are rotatable is parallel to the axis of the processingroller.

6-. Device according to claim 1 comprising belt guides for preventingdisplacements of the separation belts parallel to the axis of theprocessing roller.

7. Device according to claim 1, wherein the separation belts aresubstantially triangular in cross-section.

8. The combination of a device according to claim 1, and a plurality ofstationary cells located below the processing roller for collecting theprocessing liquors that drip from the several processing zones of theprocessing roller, each cell being so positioned as to receive only theliquor that drips from one processing zone.

9. Device for the continuous wet processing of textile filaments, yarnsand threads, comprising in combination with a rotatable processingroller having a plurality of processing zones corresponding to theseveral thread processing steps and a rotatable advancing roller askewto said processing roller for advancing the thread in a substantiallyhelical trajectory, a plurality of separation belts en;

gaging the periphery of said processing roller each at the "and at agreater distance therefrom than said advancing roller, said auxiliaryroller cooperating with said processing roller to support said belts ina position wherein they at no point intersect the thread supportingsurface.

10. Device according to claim 9, comprising belt guides engaging theseparation belts to prevent any displacements thereof parallel to theauxiliary roller.

11. Device according to claim 9, comprising belt guides for preventingdisplacements of the belts parallel to the auxiliary roller, and meansfor shifting said guides along said roller.

12. A yarn processing device comprising a processing roller, a row ofliquor receiving cells positioned under said processing roller,partitions separating said cells from one another, a rotatable advancingroller askew to said processing roller for advancing the threads alongthe processing roller in a generally helical path, a plurality ofseparation belts, auxiliary rotatable belt supporting means, said beltspassing around said processing roller adjacent the said partitions andaround said auxiliary belt supporting means, belt guides for retainingsaid belts in position, said auxiliary belt supporting means beingpositioned beyond said advancing roller so that the belts will notinterfere with the advance of the yarn along said processing roller.

13. Device according to claim 12, wherein the auxiliary belt supportingmeans are grooved pulleys having their axes substantially parallel tothat of the processing roller.

14. Device according to claim 12, wherein the separation belts areprovided with at least two proections which determine at least oneintermediate groove.

15. Device according to claim 12, wherein the separation belts areprovided with at least two projections which determine at least oneintermediate groove located, on the outer side of each belt and whereinthe liquor receiving cells are defined by partition walls and apartition wall between two collecting cells is positioned directly beloweach of said grooves located on the outer side of the separation belts.

16. Device according to claim 12, wherein the auxiliary rotatable beltsupporting means are pulleys having their axes parallel to the axis ofthe processing roller, and further comprising means for shifting saidpulleys parallel to said processing roller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,254,251 'Uytenbogaart Sept. 2, 1941 2,504,703 Kuljian Apr. 18, 19502,647,037 Luther July 28, 1953 2,659,225 Ewing Nov. 17, 1953

